MM 225: Assignment 2

1. Suppose you throw a dart at a circular target with 20 cm diameter. Assuming that you
hit the dart board and the coordinates of the point where dart has fallen is random.
Then find the probability that
a. Dart hits within 4 cm of the centre
b. Dart hits within 4 cms of the rim
c. Dart hits in the first quadrant
d. Within the first quadrant and within 4 cm of the rim
2. Choose two random numbers B and C from interval [0,1] with uniform density. Find
the probability that
a. B+C < ½
b. BC < ½
c. |B – C| < ½
d. Max{B, C} < ½
e. Min{B, C} < ½
f. B < ½ and 1-C < ½
g. Conditions c and f both hold
h. B2 + C2 =< ½
i. (B - ½)2 +(C – ½)2 < ¼
3. Three points are chosen on a circle of unit circumference. What is the probability that
the triangle defined by these points as vertices has three acute angles? Hint: one of the
angles is obtuse if and only if all three points lie in the same semicircle. Take the
circumference as [0,1]. Take one point at 0 and other two at B and C.
4. Suppose that we have a sequence of occurrences. We assume that the time X between
occurrences is exponentially distributed with 𝜆 = 1/10, so on the average, there is
one occurrence every 10 minutes (see Example 2.17). You come upon this system at
time 100, and wait until the next occurrence. Make a conjecture concerning how long,
on the average, you will have to wait. Write a program to see if your conjecture is
right.
5. Assume that a new light bulb will burn out after t hours, where t is chosen from [0;1)
with an exponential density

𝑓(𝑡) = 𝜆𝑒 −𝜆𝑡

In this context, λ is often called the failure rate of the bulb.

a. Assume that λ = 0:01, and find the probability that the bulb will not burn out
before T hours. This probability is often called the reliability of the bulb.
b. For what T is the reliability of the bulb = 1/2?